Gwen and Art Are Not In Love, by Lex Croucher

In medieval England, there still reigns a division between the Catholics and the "cultists" (followers of the Arthurian legends).  Gwen's father, the king, tries to keep the peace and hold the kingdom together.  Part of pulling that off is betrothing Gwen to the odious son of a former rival. Art.  Gwen and Art have met over the years at various events, but never gotten along.

Now nearing her eighteenth birthday, the day of the nuptial is about to arrive.  But as much as Gwen is dreading the moment and prepared for the worst, she isn't quite prepared for the discovery that Arthur actually prefers boys or for the revelation that her brother, the crown prince, likes Art!  This may all work out though because Gwen is hot for a lady knight.

The result is a complicated entanglement where the four of them work out ways to make their desires match the requirements of kingdom building in the middle ages.  Meanwhile, the drums of war beat softly in the background for most of the story until they suddenly burst forth in a glorious blood bath.

Narratively, this is a big mess of random ideas that shows little interest in history or plausible motivations and opts instead for an attention-deficit adolescent view of romantic drama topped off with some sword swinging and bloodletting at the end.  There are some cute ideas about Arthur Pendragon and Sir Lancelot being suppressed gay lovers thrown in as well.  It's a lively text, but lacking in interesting characters.  I liked the female knight Bridget and Art's sideman Sid is good comic material, but the story didn't seem to know whether it wanted to be history, fantasy, comedy, or contemporary romance.